Author: bmoore121

Religious Affections: Confidence & Peace

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“True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections”
-Jonathan Edwards

This Week

The Psalms express and teach us a lot about confidence and peace in God. David gives us two important insights in Psalm 18.

1. God’s power is evident throughout Scripture and the world around us.

David finds his confidence and peace through considering the evidence of God’s power. He looks to how he has experienced that in his own life. Then he dwells upon the evidence of God’s power in creation. Here’s the fancy theological word for what David portrays in the first half of his Psalm: omnipotence. All that means is that God is all-powerful. He can accomplish anything that does not go against his character. This is an overwhelming truth, but why does it matter to us?

2. God’s power gives confidence and peace to those who trust in Him.

The greatest source of our anxieties stems from powerlessness. We feel vulnerable to the sources of our stress, but the good news is that with God, we have the most powerful one in the entire universe on our side. David finds his confidence in the fact that his omnipotent God watches over him and empowers him for whatever lies ahead: “For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.”

We can find freedom from our anxieties and the confidence to face whatever the world throws at us if we will remember God’s power and his constant presence with us.

Religious Affections: Doubt & Discontentment

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Intro:

In his work on religious affections (desires & emotions of the will), Jonathan Edwards asserts, “True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections” Unfortunately, not all affections are as enjoyable as the one’s we have looked at so far. Life in a fallen world leads us to doubt and discontentment at times. What does it look like to express these kinds of emotions in a way that honors the Lord and, ultimately, to combat them?

This Week

As we look around at the realities of this world, we recognize clear injustices all around us. As a result, Satan can often lead us to a place of doubting God’s character or being discontent with what God has given us. Psalm 73 gives us some perspective on just these things.

1. Know that it’s right to be discontent when we recognize evil and long for justice, but we must always turn to God for understanding.

Discontentment with the injustices of our world is a good thing. When we recognize that the unjust often are the one’s who come out on top, we can even face the temptation to doubt that God is just or that He is powerful. That’s what the Psalmist seems to be wrestling with in the beginning of Psalm 73. He can’t wrap his mind around it. He’s tempted to either doubt God or long for what the unjust have gained for themselves.

Struggling with these temptations is normal. We live in a fallen world with more injustice than we can possibly fathom. The key is to go to God for understanding rather than allow Satan to undermine one’s confidence in the goodness of God. This is exactly what the writer does in v. 17—“until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.” We must turn to God and His Word in order to gain a proper perspective.

2. Ultimately, we must ground our satisfaction in God and our hope in His final justice.

By going to God, the Psalmist is reminded that God is the ultimate source of his satisfaction (not the things that this world has to offer) and the final source of complete justice. Check out the final verses (25-28):

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.

May we be reminded of this same truth and hope when the injustice of this world leads us to doubt and discontentment.

Religious Affections: Anger & Despair in Suffering

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In his work on religious affections (desires & emotions of the will), Jonathan Edwards asserts, “True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections” Unfortunately, not all affections are as enjoyable as the one’s we have looked at so far. Life in a fallen world leads us to anger in suffering at times. What does it look like to express these kinds of emotions in a way that honors the Lord and, ultimately, to combat them?

This Week

A lot about dealing with anger in suffering can be learned from the Psalms. While the issue of anger and despair in suffering is not easy, the Psalmist does give us an important insight in Psalm 88.

1. We should never cease to bring our needs to God even when we are to the point of anger and despair.

We all reach points in our lives when we encounter suffering that we simply cannot explain. We begin to despair and ask the question of “Why, God?” For me, this first happened when I was sitting on my couch with my parents at twelve years old and told three of the most ominous words in the english language: “You have cancer.” The despair that comes from moments like that in our lives can quickly turn to anger because we don’t understand why God would allow something like this.

Rather than bottling up their feelings, the Psalmists—both here in Psalm 88 and in many others—actually express their anger and despair. The great danger is not expressing our “wrong” emotions to God but rather avoiding going to him at all. Instead of cutting ourselves off from God because we feel distant or angry at Him, we must respond like the Psalmist in 88:1-2—“O Lord, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry!”

Remind yourself of the truth of the Gospel and cry out in desperation for God to hear. Never cease to go to God in prayer. Even in the darkest of moments, he uses the grace of prayer to heal our hearts and restore our faith.

Religious Affections: Love & Satisfaction

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“True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections”
-Jonathan Edwards

This Week

The Psalms express and teach us a lot about love for and satisfaction in God. The Psalmist gives us two important insights in Psalm 116.

1. Love for and satisfaction in God flows from meditating on his saving grace.

The Psalmist spends the first half of this Psalm reflecting on the salvation he experienced by God’s grace. Reflecting on the faithfulness of God’s goodness will ultimately warm our hearts to God and lead us back to finding satisfaction in Him. This is why preaching the gospel to ourselves is such a vital practice. We need to constantly keep our mind’s eye turned toward the salvation that God provides so that we can cultivate a heart that is burning with love for God.

2. Love for God leads to a life of worship and service of God.

After reflecting on his salvation, the writer begins to consider how he should respond. With such love and satisfaction in his heart, he longs to express it in very tangible ways toward God. He has absolutely no notion of earning God’s favor with worship and service, for he recognizes his total helplessness and God’s abundant graciousness. Rather than working for his salvation as in every other religion, he realizes that he simply must respond to his salvation—not because it saves him, but because his heart is overflowing.

Think about it. Anytime we are captivated by someone or something, we long to make it known and to express that love. When I dwell on how amazing my wife is, I immediately begin to think of ways that I can express that: flowers, a date night, etc. This is how our worship and service should be fueled. We don’t do it because we have to, but because we love Him.

So may we be a people that cultivates love for God in such a way that we are characterized by our worship and service of God.

Religious Affections: Sorrow & Melancholy

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In his work on religious affections (desires & emotions of the will), Jonathan Edwards asserts, “True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections” Unfortunately, not all affections are as enjoyable as the one’s we have looked at so far. Life in a fallen world leads us to legitimate sorrow and melancholy at times. What does it look like to express these kinds of emotions in a way that honors the Lord?

This Week
Let’s look at Psalm 6 and the expression of sorrow that the Psalmist expresses here.

Psalm 6

O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath.
Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
My soul also is greatly troubled.
But you, O Lord—how long?

Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who will give you praise?

I am weary with my moaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
My eye wastes away because of grief;
it grows weak because of all my foes.

Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
The Lord has heard my plea;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

A lot about dealing with sorrow and pain can be learned from the Psalms. David gives us two important insights in Psalm 6.

1. We should express our sorrow openly and honestly before the Lord.

This can be seen all over the Psalms. We aren’t meant to hold in our sorrow. God has given us much of the Psalms so we can recognize that He longs for us to bring our pain and sorrow to Him. Rather than trying to sort through it on his own, David goes to God in brutal honesty. He’s in deep despair. We’ve all had those moments in our lives when it seems like all hope is lost. Whether all of our friends have seemingly turned their backs on us, or we don’t know how we are going to pay our bills that are piling up, or we can’t even pin down the things that are depressing us, God wants us to lay those things down before Him.

2. We can combat sorrow by expressing it and reminding ourselves of God’s character.

Bringing our sorrows to God is the first step in combating it. The mere act of bringing our sorrows to God is an expression of faith, no matter how weak we may feel it is. It’s a trust that God is the only one that can possibly bear it. But let’s not stop there. We must seek to remind ourselves who God is: gracious (v. 2), loving (v. 4), listening (vv. 8-10). The Holy Spirit works through reminders of God’s character especially as we see them in His Word, and He begins to build our faith and restore our joy.

Our sorrow may not go away overnight, but the greatest truth in all this is that God will ultimately wipe away every tear from our eyes (Revelation 21:4) by the work Jesus did on the cross. May we find hope in the Gospel even in the midst of our sorrows.

Wonder, Awe & Fear of the Lord

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“True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections”
– Jonathan Edwards

We checked out joy and thanksgiving last week. Now, let’s turn to Psalm 19 to consider others: wonder, awe, and fear of the Lord.

Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

What are the big takeaways from this Psalm?

The Psalmist teaches us two important points concerning the affections of wonder, awe, and fear of the Lord.

1. Wonder and awe flow from reflecting upon God’s works and words.

The first two-thirds of the Psalm list praise after praise after praise. The writer is meditating upon all the ways in which God amazes him. It’s as if he was standing in front of the Grand Canyon one second in awe-struck wonder, then the next is whisked away to Mt. Everest, then to the rainforest of northeast Australia, and so on. To an even greater degree, he can barely catch his breath as he reflects upon the beauty and greatness of God. It’s in turning from one work of God to the next as well as one aspect of His Word to the next, that he finds himself in wonder and awe. Far too often we are underwhelmed by God, and that’s primarily because we’ve fit God into a neat little box that we can wrap our minds around. We must dwell on his greatness, or praise and satisfaction in Him will cease to be found.

2. Reverent fear of the Lord fuels humility and faithfulness.

The wonder that the writer feels toward God as he considers God’s works and the fear of the Lord that he experiences as he dwells on His Word, both contribute to the humility and desire for faithfulness that is expressed in the final three verses. When we feel like we have everything figured out or we’re better than those around us (Let’s be real, we’ve all been there)—when that happens, our pride swells. We have a screwed up perspective. We begin to think that we’ve somehow been slighted when others don’t praise us or treat us as we expect, or we begin to assume that authority over our lives. We belittle others, get angry at our family, friends, or coworkers, and rebel against authority in our lives.

But when we have a proper perspective—fearing God for His ultimate greatness and authority—then we begin to produce the humility and faithfulness of Christ. It’s as we keep God high and lifted up in our mind’s eye that we begin to walk in a way that honors God and loves mankind.

Religious Affections: Joy & Thanksgiving

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In his work on religious affections (desires & emotions of the will), Jonathan Edwards asserts, “True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections” Cultivating affections that are shaped by Scripture is essential for maturing and growing in Christlikeness. Through Easter, we will be diving into a variety of Psalms to consider the spectrum of affections experienced by the Psalmists and how they allowed the truths about God to shape and fuel their affections.

[Read a helpful summary of Edwards’ work here.]

For the first week of the semester, we got to Psalm 95 and find an overflow of joy and thanksgiving.

Psalm 95

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.”
Therefore I swore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter my rest.”

What are the big takeaways from this Psalm?

The Psalmist teaches us two important points concerning the affections of joy and thanksgiving.

1. Joy and thanksgiving flow from an understanding of who God is.

We see this throughout the first 7 verses of the Psalm. The writer overflows with joy and thanksgiving as he reflects on his relationship with God. Lasting joy and thanksgiving develops through growth in our relationship with God. As we experience God’s goodness in the ups and the downs of life, we will develop a depth of joy and thanksgiving that transcends our circumstances. We may not always be gleeful. In fact, we may go through extended seasons in which happiness seems far away. But even during those seasons, when we come to reflect upon who God is and what He’s done for us, God will fuel a lasting joy and thanksgiving within our souls.

2. Joy and thanksgiving should lead to and be the motivator for our obedience to God.

Rather than calling us to work up our willpower to obey God, the Psalmist calls for obedience that flows Christ-centered affections. So when temptations seem to be hitting from every direction and obedience to God feels impossible, meditate upon who you know God to be (Good, faithful, loving, powerful, etc.) and what He’s done for you in the Gospel.

The End

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After journeying for an entire year through Scripture, we’ve finally reached the end of the story, but what we’re looking at today is not another story from history that’s already occurred, but instead the future we look forward. We can look forward to this future with hope because we’ve seen God make good on his promises throughout the entire story found in God’s Word.

Here it is, the end of all things:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.””
-Revelation 21:1-8

Rather than provide a lengthy reflection on this passage, which is my temptation every time I read these incredible words of hope, I want to simply encourage you to reflect upon the implications of our future hope.

-Both heaven and earth are finally made new for eternity.

-Our future home is a dwelling place with God.

-We look forward to a day when suffering and evil cease to exist.

-The experience of this future hope is completely free for any who would take it.

-Those without this hope have a drastically different destiny.

Reflect upon these truths, and ask: How do these truths impact the way you live right now?

The Need for Renewal

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When I was in high school, I ran cross country. Granted, I wasn’t very devoted to it because I could never really understand why people would run for the sake of running, which is why I took up soccer my sophomore year. But still, I ran cross country.

I found one of the keys is discipline and consistency throughout the race. The only problem is I always started way too fast. I jumped off the starting line like the mobs on Black Friday when the doors finally open. I raced hard out of the gate and ended up winded just a half mile in. Slowly but surely, I settled into the middle of the pack as a result.

How many of us have the same experience when it comes to our walk with Jesus? We started like a blazing fire for Jesus, and now we are barely glimmering embers after hitting the realities of the world around us. Temptations and persecutions have slowly worn us down.

This is exactly where many of the early churches found themselves only a few short years after being planted by Paul. In fact, most of these churches begin with incredible faithfulness and passion for Jesus, but it’s not long until Satan begins to attack and the churches need renewal. The letters in Revelation are meant for just this purpose: spiritual renewal and encouragement.

In Revelation 2:1-11, we find Jesus addressing two churches. First, the church at Ephesus has apparently experienced just the issue that we’ve been talking about. They remained doctrinally faithful, but the passion and love that used to flow from that doctrine has slowly died away. They are no longer living lives that are fueled by the Gospel. Their love for Jesus and others has dwindled, and as a result, Jesus is calling for them to return to their love for Him rather than be satisfied merely with right doctrine.

The Ephesian church needed a renewal of the love and practice of their faith through repentance, and Jesus encourages them toward this end through the hope that they have in Jesus: eternal life with God.

The second church is Smyrna. The problem they face is from the outside: persecution. This persecution threatened their spiritual well being, too. Jesus encourages them with promises of the hope that is beyond this present life.

Both these churches were experiencing threats to their spiritual vitality: one from within and the other from without.

Whatever is threatening your spiritual life, you can find hope and renewal in the Gospel. Return to the words of Jesus. They are for you, Christian. Experience the renewal of your passion and burn brightly for Jesus once again.

The Hope for Peace & Reconciliation

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No matter where you are from, what kind of cultural or ethnic background you possess, or what side of hot topics you land on, the lack of peace and reconciliation in our country is obvious. In fact, the distance between people seems to only be growing as sides continue to move to the extremes. The problems we face can be so overwhelming that we begin to feel they are insurmountable.

But, thankfully, we have a hope that can overcome all barriers to peace: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Certainly, in case you think I’m being trite, the problems we face have no easy, overnight solutions. But the truth is that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16), and this extends beyond a mere individual experience.

In the next stage of the story of Scripture, we see this reality come to life. Since the day of Pentecost, the Gospel has been spreading throughout Israel (Judea & Samaria) even to Paul who had been persecuting the Jewish believers. But something new was about to happen: the Gospel was about to exhibit it’s power to overcome barriers between peoples in a way that no one saw coming, not even the apostles.

In Acts 10, God breaks down Peter’s assumptions about who can and who can’t experience God’s salvation. In case you think you’re slow to learn, be encouraged. Peter took three visions to finally be convinced of what God was doing through the Gospel: He was bringing salvation to every single person who would repent and believe in the Gospel no matter their ethnic or cultural background.

In Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul explains that this is possible because of what Jesus did on the cross. He establishes not only peace with God but also peace among humanity because he provides a common bound that supersedes anything in this world. We are all made children of God by grace through faith.

The glorious thing is that the Gospel brings peace in the midst of differences rather than by destroying the differences. Our ethnic and cultural backgrounds uniquely proclaim the glory of God, and the Gospel doesn’t destroy those identities but brings out their beauty even more.

We can enjoy diversity and experience peace because Jesus provides us ultimate unity through our identity in Him as children of God.

Yes, we still have a long way to go in realizing this reality. The church has often represented this reality very poorly to say the least. But as we ground ourselves in our mutual hope and identity in Christ, we can pursue peace and diversity with an expectation that Jesus has enabled our reconciliation.